Scandal in the Operating Room
My fingertips still cool from disinfectant, I unlocked the screen to see an urgent message from the department nurse:
Dr. Sinclair, the emergency department has just admitted a severe car accident patient. Blood pressure is crashing; we urgently need the lead surgeon!
I didn't even have time to take a sip of water; I grabbed my surgical cap and rushed to the emergency resuscitation room.
The hallway lights were starkly bright, and all I could hear was the piercing screech of the emergency cart's wheels scraping against the floor.
The moment I pushed open the resuscitation room door, I froze.
On the operating table lay a man wearing the gray wool sweater I had just bought him last week. His facial profile was painfully familiar—it was my father-in-law, Grant Carter.
"Dr. Sinclair, the patient has a ruptured spleen with intracranial hemorrhage. Initial hemostasis has just been performed, but the carotid artery pulse is now faint!" The nurse hurriedly handed me the medical records folder.
My mind went completely blank, and my fingers trembled uncontrollably.
But over a decade of medical experience quickly restored my composure. I took a deep breath and slipped on my gloves:
"Prepare for general anesthesia, notify the blood bank to have type O blood ready, I'm taking the lead on this surgery!"
The scrub nurse handed me the scalpel, and the cold touch of the metal revived my professional instincts.
Half an hour into the surgery, I was intently focused on repairing the damaged blood vessels when hurried footsteps suddenly echoed behind me.
It was the new intern, Susan Xavier. She was supposed to be observing in the viewing area today, yet somehow, she abruptly rushed into the operating area.
"Dr. Sinclair, let me help pass you the instruments!" Her voice trembled with an unusual edge. Before I could refuse, she reached out to grab the scalpel from the surgical tray.
I frowned, about to remind her of the sterile protocol, when the unexpected happened.
The scalpel in Susan Xavier's hand suddenly slashed toward her father-in-law's carotid artery!
"No!" I shouted, reaching out to stop it, but the sharp blade instantly sliced my arm; blood streamed down my sleeve.
Even more terrifying, a large gash opened in her father-in-law's carotid artery; blood spurted like a fountain, flooding the entire operating table red.
"Quick, get the hemostatic forceps!" I yelled, pressing both hands firmly on the bleeding site, but blood still oozed through my fingers.
The heart rate curve on the monitor gradually flattened, finally becoming a flat line.
"Patient's blood pressure dropped to zero, heart rate disappeared, resuscitation failed." The nurse's voice quivered with sobs as she announced the time of death.
I slumped into the operating chair, the wound on my arm still bleeding, but I couldn't feel the pain.
In my mind, the image of Susan Xavier's eyes as she made that incision kept replaying—cold and resolute, far from accidental.
That very afternoon, bizarre and twisted rumors began spreading through the hospital.
When I went to the nurse's station to change the dressing, I overheard two nurses whispering in a corner.
"Have you heard? Dr. Sinclair killed her father-in-law during surgery. I heard she's had a bad relationship with him for a long time and deliberately caused it!"
"Is that for real? The wound on her arm couldn't have been accidental—maybe she faked it to make it look like an accident?"
I clenched my fists tightly as waves of sharp pain radiated from the wound.
I was clearly doing my best to save him, so how did I become the perpetrator who killed my father-in-law?
I returned to my office, locked the door, and trembling, took out my phone to call my husband, Jerry Carter.
I need his trust; I need him to uncover the truth with me.
The phone rang three times before someone answered.
But the voice on the other end wasn't Jerry Carter's; it was Susan Xavier's teasing tone: "Hello, is this Dr. Sinclair?"
My heart sank sharply: "Susan? Why are you holding Jerry's phone? Where is he?"
"Jerry's in the shower." Susan's voice held a clear note of provocation.
"Dr. Sinclair, the whole hospital is talking about this morning's surgery, saying you killed your father-in-law."
"How do you think Jerry would react if he found out?"
"It was you! You were the one who spread the rumors!" I clenched my anger, "Susan Xavier, why did you sever my father-in-law's carotid artery? What exactly are you trying to achieve?"
"Dr. Sinclair, you can be careless with your meals, but you must not be careless with your words." Susan let out a faint, mocking laugh.
"The situation was so urgent, I simply slipped accidentally. How can you accuse me of doing it deliberately?"
"Yet you, as the lead surgeon, failed to properly monitor the patient, and still have the nerve to blame others?"
"You..." I trembled with fury, unable to complete my sentence.
At that moment, Jerry Carter's voice came through the receiver: "Susan, who was that on the phone?"
Then the call switched to Jerry Carter, his tone icy cold like a winter wind: "Yvonne Sinclair, how dare you call me?"
"Jerry, please listen to my explanation. It wasn't me who caused Dad's death; it was Susan. She deliberately severed Dad's carotid artery..." I hurriedly defended myself.
"Enough!" Jerry Carter cut me off, his voice heavy with disappointment and anger.
"Everyone in the hospital is saying you deliberately harmed Dad on the operating table because of your quarrel with him!"
"Yvonne, I never thought you could be such a vicious woman!"
"I'm not! Jerry, how can you believe others instead of me?" At last, my tears spilled uncontrollably.
"Believe you?" Jerry Carter sneered, "I saw the scratch on your arm myself. It was so shallow—clearly intentional—just to mislead everyone!"
"Yvonne, just wait. I will uncover the truth and make you pay for my father's death!"
Then he hung up the phone abruptly.
I grasped the phone, sank to the floor, and sobbed in despair.
After five years of marriage, Jerry Carter and I have always maintained a strong relationship.
I thought he would trust me unconditionally, but now he accuses me without any evidence and has grown close to Susan Xavier.
I wiped away my tears and silently vowed that no matter how difficult it gets, I will uncover the truth and clear my name.
The next morning, as soon as I arrived at the hospital, I saw a group of police officers entering the department.
The lead officer showed his badge: "Yvonne Sinclair, we have received a report accusing you of intentionally causing the death of your father-in-law, Grant Carter. Please come with us."
I was stunned. The person reporting the case was actually Jerry Carter?
"I didn't kill anyone!" I hurriedly explained, "It was the intern Susan Xavier who deliberately severed my father-in-law's carotid artery during surgery. You should arrest her!"
At that moment, Jerry Carter and Susan Xavier stepped out from behind the police officers.
Susan Xavier hid behind Jerry Carter and timidly said, "Officer, I didn't do it. I was just trying to help and accidentally slipped. Dr. Sinclair was the lead surgeon and failed to save the patient, so she tried to shift the blame onto me..."
Jerry Carter draped his arm over Susan Xavier's shoulder and said to the police:
"Officer, I can testify that Yvonne has always had a poor relationship with my father. They even had a huge argument about family matters recently. She had a motive to kill!"
"Besides, only she and Susan were on the operating table. If it wasn't her, then was it Susan?"
"Susan is so timid. How could she possibly commit murder?"
"Jerry! How can you say such a thing?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"We've been married for five years, and you still don't understand me? How could I ever harm Dad?"
"Understand? It was because I knew you so well before that I was deceived by your false kindness for so long!" Jerry Carter's gaze was icy cold.
"Yvonne, stop denying it and come with the police. Confess your crimes properly!"
The police stepped forward and produced handcuffs. "Yvonne Sinclair, please cooperate with us."
I stared at Jerry Carter's cold, unfeeling face, then caught Susan Xavier's triumphant gaze, and felt a wave of icy emptiness inside.
I knew that now, no words would help; only by uncovering solid evidence could I clear my name.
"I will go with you, but I must stress, I did not kill anyone; I am being falsely accused!" I held out my hands, letting the police put the handcuffs on.
As I left the department, all my colleagues stared at me with strange looks, their whispers stabbing my heart like needles.
"I never thought Dr. Sinclair could be like this—harboring harm even against her father-in-law."
"You truly can know a person's face but not their heart."
I hung my head low, gritting my teeth, fighting back the tears.
One day, I will make sure everyone learns the truth.
At the police station, I repeatedly explained the situation to the officers, but they insisted on having evidence.
I suddenly remembered—the Operating Room has surveillance footage!
"Officer, there's surveillance in the emergency room. You can retrieve the recordings; the footage will clearly show that Susan Xavier deliberately cut my father-in-law's carotid artery!" I said urgently.
The police immediately contacted the hospital and obtained the surgery footage from that day.
As the footage played on the screen in the interrogation room, I fixated intently on the images.
The footage clearly showed me deeply focused on the surgery when Susan Xavier suddenly rushed into the operating area, grabbed the scalpel, and without hesitation slashed at my father-in-law's carotid artery.
The moment I reached out to stop her, the camera clearly captured the slash on my arm.
"Look!" I pointed at the screen. "This is the evidence—Susan Xavier deliberately tried to kill. I am innocent!"
After watching the video recording, the police's expressions grew serious. They immediately contacted Jerry Carter and Susan Xavier, summoning them to the police station for a confrontation.
When Jerry Carter and Susan Xavier arrived and saw the footage, Susan's face instantly went pale. She hid behind Jerry, too afraid to speak.
I thought that once Jerry saw the truth, he would apologize to me and clear my name.
But unexpectedly, he actually said to the police:
"Officer, please take a closer look. Susan was probably just too nervous at the time and slipped—she didn't mean to do it."
"Jerry! Are you insane?" I couldn't believe my eyes. "The video clearly shows she did it on purpose! Why are you defending her?"
"Yvonne, don't push your luck!" Jerry Carter glared at me.
"Susan just started working and has never faced such an emergency before. Nervous mistakes are normal. How can you blame her entirely just because you failed to save the patient?"
"I didn't save the patient?" Rage shook me to my core. "If she hadn't sliced Dad's carotid artery, I would've saved him already!"
"Jerry, what exactly is wrong with you?"
"Why are you defending the perpetrator who caused your father's death?"
Susan Xavier then whispered softly:
"Officer, I swear I didn't mean to do it. I was so scared at the time that my hand slipped... and it caused this terrible mistake. I know I was wrong. Please, forgive me."
The police frowned and said to us,
"The situation still requires further investigation. Susan Xavier, you will come to the police station with us to provide a detailed statement. Jerry Carter, you will also remain here to cooperate with the investigation."
Watching Jerry Carter still shielding Susan Xavier, my heart completely sank.
The man I have loved for five years, when faced with the truth, actually chose to protect the perpetrator who killed his own father, showing me such coldness.
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